ODNI redesigns website with social media in mind

The website of the U.S. intelligence community recently underwent a facelift.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has unveiled a revamped website that aims to increase transparency and provide more current information to citizens.

Created with an open source content management system, the redesigned web portal now has a series of new features including links to all intelligence community members, video, photographs, podcasts and subscription content from throughout the IC.

The back-end updates “provide a scalable and flexible architecture to empower innovative, efficient distribution of key information while reducing the costs of future investments,” ODNI officials wrote in an announcement.

ODNI’s decision to focus more on web 2.0 tools such as Facebook also reflects the agency’s decision to make its content available to a broader audience, ODNI said in a statement. The effort also includes highlighting the work of ODNI’s federal, state, industry and global partners.

Additional features and content will be added in the coming months. Until then, visitors to DNI.gov will find extensive ODNI content, including links to career opportunities for job seekers, students and veterans. The website also has congressional testimonies and other relevant news. The archives section dates back to 2005, but the earlier years have yet to be filled with content.

A recent survey suggested that mobility is a key element federal websites need now to become more useful to their customers. So far, however, ODNI's revamp does not seem to emphasize mobile applications.

About the Author

Camille Tuutti is a former FCW staff writer who covered federal oversight and the workforce.

FCW investigated efforts by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve a joint data repository on military and veteran suicides. Something as impersonal and mundane as incomplete datasets could be exacerbating a national tragedy.